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The KGB, the Computer, and Me (Complete)

GBPPR2
Documentaries
YouTube
2 HN users recommended this documentary2 months2016–2019 score 2
Years with an HN recommendation, 2007–2026

HN lists it among favorite nerdy documentaries and enjoys hearing Stoll tell the story himself.

The 1990 NOVA documentary follows astronomer Clifford Stoll as he tracks a hacker through military and research computer networks, a story that involved the CIA and KGB. It is based on The Cuckoo's Egg.

“It was really great, getting to hear it from Mr. Stoll's mouth directly.” (HN, 2019)

2 recommendations · 2 citations · Documentaries

4 Hacker News comments

From the HN archive; up to 20 kept per video, favoring different commenters. Recommendations first.

@otakucode Jun 2019 Recommends
on HN thread Get an Acme Klein Bottle
Oh, yes, that is the documentary I watched. It was really great, getting to hear it from Mr. Stoll's mouth directly. He was much less enthusiastic than he tends to be in Numberphile videos, I imagine that might be down to the director of the film. It is available on YouTube if anyone cares to give it a watch! [this video]
Documentary with Cliff Stoll telling the story directly

Citations, criticism and jokes

@gabrielblack Jan 2019 Cites it
on HN thread The Cuckoo's Egg
"The book was chronicled in an episode of WGBH’s NOVA entitled “The KGB, the Computer, and Me”, which aired on PBS stations on October 3, 1990" I think it's this one: [this video] Oh,me I'm ROFL: an actor is identical to one of X-Files "Lone Gunmen". When he explains the beeper to his wife I needed the oxygen. It's like "Doctor Who vs hackers" :-)
NOVA episode based on The Cuckoo's Egg

Video list and Hacker News comment labels from HackerTube (prompted by @karpathy), released under ODC-By 1.0, built on the open-index/hacker-news archive. Hacker News data is provided by Y Combinator; comments remain the work of their authors. Video titles, channel names and thumbnails belong to their creators and are shown via YouTube. HackerTube Watch is an unofficial edition. Data export of 2026-10-31.

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